Azula Rising
by RicanG07
Summary: Azula finally realizes it is her time to rule. Throught this 20 chapter story we will see Azula rise to political power and world dominance.
1. Azula's Defiance

The time had come for Azula. No longer would she listen to her fathers orders like a dog, she would rule the nation. She walked out of her room, down a few corridors in the palace, and then finally strutted confidently down the corridor leading the large double metal doors, leading into the Firelord's throne room. The guards stiffened as they opened the doors for her. "Good morning, princess." They said. Azula nodded to them, and then walked on. She gazed at the seat in the back of the room surrounded by fire, a silhouetted figure sat upon it. She advanced to the throne, keeping her eye on her father. As she got closer she began to speak.

"Father, I think it's time I let you in on some valuable information." She said.

"What is it, Princess Azula?" Ozai asked in a rather tired tone.

Azula stopped when she was only a few feet away from the throne. A flicker of nervousness filled her, but she quickly regained her confidence.

"I am through following your orders father, now it's my turn to call the shots." She said coolly.

Azula could not see Ozai's reaction, but she knew her father well and could tell he was not pleased. This for once however, did not faze her.

"And what…. Do you mean by this, Azula?" Ozai said through gritted teeth.

"I'm done," she said, examining her finger nails. "I am sick of waiting here for you to take action, to bring the world to our feet! You are acting like a coward, father. I think I have been the most successful in this war. I have made the most progress. Maybe it's time you step down from the throne and allow me to take the throne."

Ozai stood up. "How dare you defy me? This was always expected from Zuko… But from you?" Ozai exclaimed. "Azula, my advice to you is to repent for your defiance, or you will suffer the same fate as Zuko."

"No father." Azula said sighing. "Zuko wanted your love more than anything. He actually cared. For a moment I thought I did too, but then I realized you were much less intelligent then I am." Azula spat. "Might I remind you who brought down Ba Sing Se? Not even with your help. From that moment on I knew I was better than you, I deserve the throne." She brought her eyebrows together, giving her a fiercer look.

Ozai started to laugh. His laugh grew louder and louder, and for a moment Azula became frustrated that he was taking her as a joke.

"Azula, you are very clever. If you were Zuko I would have killed by now, but your strength and confidence is admirable, and for that I will give you one last chance to stand by my side."

Ozai eyed Azula suspiciously. He never took his eyes off her in the few moments he waited for her to reply.

"No." Azula said flatly.

Ozai made a loud growling noise. He raised all the flames in the room and formed them into one large and powerful missile of flames. It flew forward at Azula. She immediately did a back flip as the blast hit the floor, sending flames everywhere. At one point her shin was slightly scorched by the heat.

She landed on her two feet, facing Ozai. There was a large dark spot on the floor in the middle of the two. She looked up at Ozai and saw the rage on his face. Never in her life did she see him as mad as he was now. For a moment this scared her. Her breathing got slightly heavier. She knew her father wasn't done yet. She was right.

Ozai shot a powerful bolt of lightning at Azula. The room turned dark except from the light generated from the bolt. If she did not notice a few seconds earlier she would have been electrocuted. She did another back flip as Ozai lashed out and landed on her feet again. The bolt missed, hitting the floor and shaking the palace. There were scorch marks all over the wall from smaller stray bolts that came from the original bolt of lightning. The air in the room became hotter.

Azula looked at her father angrily.

"Is that all you got?" she said tauntingly.

She dodged another bolt of lightning that was shot at her. Ozai jumped down from the throne. Now the battle would become intense. He advanced quickly to Azula. She stayed still.

"So Azula, this is the path you choose? Never would I have believed you would die by my hand, but it does not matter. I am through dealing with you traitors carelessly. I shall end it now!" he then lashed out at Azula, flames forming in his hand. He aimed a hit at her. She quickly jumped over him before she was struck. She landed behind him, and sent multiple blasts of blue fire at him. He quickly turned around and swiped the blasts away.

The fight continued. Ozai was doing most of the attacking as Azula was evading most of the time. She jumped closer to him then did a sideswipe at his feet, trying to take him off balance. He jumped over the kick and shot a jet of flames at Azula. She jumped back, but was burned on her shoulder. It was extremely painful. She felt she could stop right there, but this was a battle, and there was no time for that. She continued jumping around and evading attacks by her father.

"Father you seem to be holding back or are you just too weak?" she asked him sarcastically.

Ozai responded angrily at this and was in frenzy. He started making faster and powerful attacks, shooting fire at her as much as he possibly could. Finally he stopped.

"Azula, I was trying to go easy on you, just trying to maybe remind you of what you're dealing with, but it seems you will not change. Oh well." He said as he lashed out once more, shooting an incredibly powerful bolt of lightning at her. The room got dark, and the air was hotter. The palace shook once more. Ozai looked where the lightning hit, but his target was no where in sight.

"Father I am right here!" Azula called out.

Ozai looked to where the voice of Azula was coming from. She was at the door. It seemed she was ready. She raised a wall of flames that scorched the ceiling above her. Then she thrust her hands forward and the wall of blue flames flew at Ozai. She then ran out the doors.

"Guards, get Azula now!" he yelled out from the room. His voice was so loud and booming even Azula could hear it from the hall. Guards came from no where, snatching at her. She fought back, blasting them away with missiles and jets of fire. At one point a powerful guards cornered her and pinned her against the wall. He grabbed her by the neck with a tight grip.

"Looks like you time has come, Princess. No longer will you boss us around with petty orders." He said as he tightened his grip on her throat. Azula gasped for air. More guards came out of no where. There was a loud BOOM and the sound of metal and stone being blown away. Desperately, she kicked fire up into the guards face, and then knocked the rest of the guards away with a wave of fire. She looked around and saw that the blast came from the stone room. Ozai has shot a bolt of lightning at the wall and blasted it away. He was running toward Azula. This was her last chance. She created a large wave of fire and projected it at him. It completely obstructed the view of anything behind it, including her. She took this time to run down the rest of the corridor and turn into another corridor. The halls she knew so well suddenly felt like a challenging maze that she had to get through. She ran as fast as she could down halls while fighting off multiple soldiers that advanced on her. She finally found the exit and quickly making sure no one could see her, she left the palace.


	2. Victory Aboard

They searched through the entire Capital City for her. They looked through out the plaza, the palace, every household and building in the Capital. In a matter of days, Azula became the most wanted person in the Fire Nation. This fact did not scare Azula even slightly. She knew almost everyone was intimidated by her, and if they weren't, they would be if they came across her. She felt as if she already had the world bowing at her feet. They would never catch her. Most people didn't want to search for her. She was dangerous.

Azula stood at the edge of Crescent Island. She saw no ships, no jets, no balloons, nothing.

"My father really is dim witted." She said aloud to her self, rolling her eyes. How hard was it for them to catch her? She was out in the open, her royal garment on. She was as obvious as she could be. She sat down and sighed. She thought of the previous fight she just had with her own father. It seemed like a dream. She never thought she would defy him in her life. He seemed to always be right. But now she knew he was nothing but a weak coward. She could outsmart him in every way.

She began to ponder even more, and imagined herself as the ruler of the world. She realized then why she always followed her father's orders and helped him. She wanted all that work to count when she took the throne. She wanted to be the ruler of the Fire Nation and the world. In a way, she was actually using him the whole time.

The sun began to set, and it was time to leave. None of the navy was coming for her. She boarded her ship with her crew in it. The crew did not know she was wanted yet. She ordered them to take their stations and set sail for the Earth Kingdom. One of the soldiers ran up to her.

"Princess Azula! We have just received a Messenger Hawk from the Firelord. He says you shall return to the Capital immediately. He wrote that if we did not comply with his wishes, he will kill us all."

Azula shot a glance at him from the corner of her eye.

"We don't obey the Firelord on this ship. What I decide to do is what we are doing, not my father!" she said through slightly gritted teeth.

"But princess, he is the Firelord and we must obey his wishes." the soldier said nervously.

"No, you will obey my wishes!" Azula spat. "You no longer serve my father, you never did. You serve me, and I just told you we do not take orders from him. Now take your station and prepare to leave!"

"He will kill us!" the soldier cried. "He said under his order you are to return. That means we cannot question."

Azula grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him to the edge of the boat. "Now, get it through your head that it is my orders that you cannot question." Azula said menacingly. The soldier gulped.

"I shall rule by the end of this war, not my father. Those who were major contributions to the war have all left him, including me. He is being a coward, and I will not stand around and see all the work I put into this war go to waste. It is my turn to rule."

The soldier's eyes widened. "You're crazy! He will kill you, me, and everyone else on this ship!" the man exclaimed. Azula lashed out at him. She shot a jet of flames at him. He dodged the jet, but as he regained balance she pushed him off the boat. The soldier grabbed onto the ledge of the boat in a desperate attempt to save himself.

"Please Princess Azula… I cannot swim. I promise I will serve you from now and forever. I shall never question your authority ever again. You are right in everyway." The soldier said desperately. Azula looked at him as if he were a pathetic animal.

She put her foot on his hand.

"No Princess please, I have a family to return!" the soldier whimpered.

"I am sure if they are loyal to the Royal family of the Fire Nation they will understand your disloyalty to me cost you your life. If they fail to see that, then they may suffer the same fate."

"You're evil! You witch! I hope you die in the end!" the man said angrily. Azula stomped on his hand and kicked it off the ledge. The soldier made a sound of pain and then fell the watery depths of the ocean. Azula looked down at the waters. He did not emerge from the waters surface. An evil smirk came across her face. Another soldier walked up to her.

"Princess where would you like us to go?" he asked.

"Make course for Ba Sing Se." she replied.

"Yes of course princess." The soldier said, and then scurried away.

It was time for Azula to return to the old city. She would take its throne, and start to conquer from there. The Dai Li were advanced soldiers, and helped bring down the Earth kingdom capital. They were loyal to her, it wouldn't change now.

As she thought of her future she straightened the hair that hung on the side of her face. She wondered when her path would cross with the Avatar. She would need to kill him again. He was her only problem. He and his group were the problems. She had to admit to even herself, they were very strong. But she could deal with them, she did it last time.

It was dark now. The moon was shining brightly. Its light was reflected on the surface of the water. Azula decided it was time for bed. They would arrive to Ba Sing Se in only a day if at full speed. She felt excited about starting her rule from the city she fought so hard to bring down. She was happy.

The day had taken so long to finish, and now that it was finished, Azula wanted to rush into the morning. She would be up early, ready for the new day. Her plans were getting clearer. She would form her own army from Ba Sing Se, and then from there she would launch an attack on her father. Once she brought her father down, she could return to the Capital and take charge from there. She would show the world she was right to rule.

Slowly, Azula's ambitious thoughts brought her into sleep. Strangely she dreamed her father beat her, badly. After he beat her, he threw her into a cell. "You are lucky to be born Azula! Zuko was always born lucky. He is fit to rule this nation. Not you. Don't you ever forget that!" and at that he slammed the metal door shut. Azula began to sob, tears running down her face. How could her father be so cruel? She only asked him the right to rule. What bad did she do to deserve this? All she ever wanted was his love.

She woke to a start. There were loud explosions ringing out from the decks ahead. Someone was banging at her door.

"Princess Azula! The royal navy is attacking us!" the soldier cried out.

Azula's eyes opened fully. She got out of her bed and quickly got dressed.

"Prepare the crew for battle! Fire at will!" she yelled.

The footsteps of the soldier reassured Azula that she was alone. She opened the door, looked around, and then ran down the corridor. She wondered how close they were to the Earth Kingdom. If they were close enough then she could make it to Ba Sing Se on a smaller boat.

The ship lurched to the side. There was another explosion. Azula fell to the side, slamming against the metal wall. She cursed and yelled. It was obvious her crew wasn't doing their best. She wondered if they were even fighting back. Did she have to do everything herself? Was it so hard for them to help?

She stomped up to the top deck. She was completely enraged by the site. Fire, smoke, and debris were everywhere. The shadow of another ship could be seen behind the cloud of smoke at the rear of the ship. Another ship was nearing in on the left. Soldiers were knocked overboard; others were on the floor injured, while others scurried around trying to defend the ship. The boat lurched to the side again, and an explosion went off. Azula fell to the floor.

"Princess," a soldier cried as he went over to pick her up. "Thank god you are here! We need you. Please help us bring these vermin down. They just attacked us out of no where. I informed them they were dealing with the ship of Princess Azula, but the commander of the ship merely scoffed. He said you were nothing but filth." The soldier informed her.

More anger filled Azula.

"All soldiers who can Firebend get over here and clear out this fire and smoke. Everyone else, start sending missiles over there. Launch an assault back. Don't just stand here and wait!" Azula instructed them.

Every soldier around started doing tasks. The smoked and fire was almost cleared out, and missiles were being launched from the ship. They hit their target at the tower of another ship and knocked it off. Another missile aimed for the other ship hit it at the base of the ship. Projectiles were flying over her.

Azula began to charge up electricity. When she successfully separated the two opposite energies, she charged them together and shot a bolt of lightning at the ship on their left. There was a loud BOOM, followed by a series of other explosions. The enemy ship began to sink. Slowly the waters pulled it down. Azula turned to the back of the ship. She repeated the steps in charging electricity, and then shot another bolt of lightning at it. The ship exploded. The force from the explosions thrust Azula's own boat forward. The boat wobbled as waves passed under them.

As they left the battle scene, Azula looked on to the wreck of their enemy ships. Her victory in this battle will show him he means business. Thinking of her father brought the thought of her dream from the last night. She felt disgusted that she had such a worthless dream, then turned to sit on her throne on the ship.


	3. Azula's Ascension

The boat continued to wobble on the calm seas. Azula stood at the edge of the boat, slouched over the railing. She looked out onto the sea, thinking of her plans. Azula was beginning to notice the deck seemed lower, closer to the surface of the water. She wondered if the boat was sinking. They would be reaching Ba Sing Se in a matter of hours, and Azula could not have the boat sink before then. She looked around for the closest servant near her.

"Guards," she yelled. The soldiers came running to her and bowed.

"Yes, Princess?" one of them said.

"Go below deck, all the way to the bottom of the ship and see if we have any leaks or cases of water flooding the lower decks." She ordered them.

"Yes princess." Another soldier said obediently. "What are we to do if we do have flooding?" he asked. Azula shot a glance at him from the corner of her eye.

"Fix it!" she snapped.

The soldiers then scampered away. Azula sighed. Were they any good? She could just throw them off the ship and do things on her own. After all, she saved most of them from a watery death by quickly disposing of the enemy ships. It was such an easy task, but they all were cowards. She was extremely disappointed.

Azula was boiling with anger in a matter of seconds. She was thinking of her father, she was frustrated that it was taking so long to reach Ba Sing Se, and even more frustrated that the boat might be sinking. Her plans were not going as planned. She stood up straight and turned away from the rails. She looked around at everyone working. It sickened her to see how slowly everything was going. She walked over to her throne, sat upon it and crossed her legs. She eyed everyone menacingly.

Boredom was taking over Azula. She needed to have some excitement. Clearly this ship wasn't the place for that. A soldier came running up to her. It was the same soldier who took her orders earlier.

"Princess," he said while gasping for breath. "The ship is sinking fast. We might not make it to shore!"

Azula glared at him. "We will make it to shore, no matter what the cost. Fire up the engines, fix the leaks, and get this ship going!" she ordered.

"But princess, it is a very bad leak. It may not be reparable. Would you come to look at it? We may need to abandon ship." The soldier informed her.

Azula looked on; in the distance she could just barely see the shape and soft blue color of mountains in the distance. "If you don't fix that leak and get us to shore as quickly as possible, I will punish you severely." She snarled.

The soldier sighed quietly; quietly enough that she couldn't hear him. "Yes princess." He said, and then walked off.

An hour passed and every servant was now below deck trying to fix the leak. They were nearing shore. Mountains were now clearly visible; more visible than they were an hour ago. Azula had high hopes that they would actually make it. Excitement filled her. She hopped off her throne and walked over to the edge of the boat. To her horror, the surface of the ocean was extremely high. It had to be at least two decks below her. Anger filled her once more. She stomped down to the lower decks. Puddles of water were all over the floors, and the lower she got the more puddles there were. She heard people crying out to each other, water splashing, and feet slipping on the watery floor. She checked to see how things were going. When she saw them, she wanted to kill them.

"What happened!" she growled.

"Ah, p- princess," one of the soldiers said nervously. "Water has flooded most of the lowest deck. There may be some damage to the hull as well. We need to abandon the ship."

Azula looked around. It was true that it was bad.

"You guys aren't trying hard enough!" Azula screamed.

She continued to stomp down the corridor and saw how fast water was flooding the ship. Angry and frustrated, she began to turn the water into steam by heating it with Firebending. She turned as much water as possible, and luckily the soldiers began to do the same and help. They turned so much water into steam, it was almost impossible to see anymore.

They turned water into steam on the lower decks until finally they found the cause of it, and sealed it up. Water still rushed in from the hole, but a lot less then before. Azula let her anger go, and went back up to the top deck to sit on her throne.

Azula looked out to the horizon. Excitement filled her. They were almost there. Any moment now…

"Princess, we are ready to hit land." A soldier informed her.

A smirk grew on Azula's face. "Good. Let's hurry up then, shall we?" she said elusively.

A few minutes passed, and they finally reached land. For Azula, it was like being one step closer to treasure. No. This was better than treasure. She contemplated every next step as they walked out of the ship and toward the city. Time was precious, and she would waste none of it. The time had come for her succession. Her fathers rule was fading, hers was growing.

Azula could but only count the minutes till she finally passed the walls of Ba Sing Se with her crew. She turned to them.

"I do not need your assistance any longer, you may dismiss yourselves." She said. A few of the soldiers tried to hide their anger and frustrations with her, but they left nonetheless. She turned to the city, gazing at it as if it were paradise. There was something about the city that she admired. It could be the gigantic size of the city, or the way each wealth class was divided (as it should be) or whether it was the grandeur of the city. Still it had something to it that made her choose it as her starting headquarters in the first place.

Agents of the Dai Li greeted her with much loyalty and respect. Fire Nations soldiers bowed to her. Some wondered what her business was here. Still she continued her approach to the palace. More Dai Li agents greeted her. It was as if she was already the Queen.

"Princess Azula!" An agent called out to her. "What an honor it is to have you back in our city. Do you need anything?"

Azula looked over to him. "As a matter of fact, bring to me the top Dai Li agents. I will be meeting with them to discuss important plans. I will be sitting on my throne, in the palace. Please make sure they aren't late as I will be most displeased." she said.

The soldier nodded, and then walked off. Unlike the soldiers on her crew, he didn't scurry away like a cowardly dog. She walked up the steps to the palace. It was a very long way up, but Azula took no notice as she continued to think about her plans. Her ambitious thoughts made her excited. She loved being able to rule. This time however, she wouldn't rule secondhand, like she did with her father. This time she was Queen.

In the palace Azula found her way to the throne. No one sat upon it. She walked swiftly to it, and sat down on it. She crossed her legs and embraced the feeling of ruling this kingdom. With her as queen, all that was needed was the extermination of her father, and then she could finally take the throne as Fire Queen in the Fire Nation. She liked that idea. Her thoughts were interrupted by a Dai Li agent.

"Princess, the agents are here to discuss matters with you. They are most excited to see you." He said.

"Bring them in." she replied.

The Dai Li agent turned and gestured about a dozen or so agents in the room. They all lined up in a fashionable order before her. She stood up.

"The time has come for me to rule." She began. "My father no longer has the wit to finish this war. That is why I am taking charge. I come before you to set up and army. We will launch an assault on my father and bring him down. Once he is finished off, I will take the throne as Fire Queen. For now however, I will take the throne as Queen of the Earth Kingdom. My rule will help bring the downfall of my father, and the rising of my rule."

She looked around at all the agents, and began walking around them, inspecting them carefully and giving them intimidating looks. She continued on.

"Once we have brought down my father and I have taken the throne, we will launch one final assault on the world, and fully conquer it."

Every Dai Li agent did not move, but continued to look straight.

So," Azula started to speak again. "I need you to establish our rule over this city, and this nation. It shouldn't be too hard. I practically rule already. I just need to make sure everyone follows my orders. If that means pain, then give it to them. Bring them to me if you must. After you all have made it clear to everyone that I now rule this nation, I need you to start gaining strength for a battle. All Dai Li agents will take part in this battle, and each and every one of you will fight. We will win, and I will take the throne. Should any of you turn against me," Azula paused. "I won't hesitate to bring you down. I will wipe out every single coward and weak link in this army so it will be flawless." She looked around menacingly.

Each and every Dai Li agent kept silent and still like statues. They did not dare make sudden movement in case Azula took it as an attempted assault. She turned her back on them and straightened the hair that was loose over her face.

"So, does anyone have anything to say?" she said coolly. No one replied.

"Very well then, you all are dismissed." She told them. With that most of the Dai Li agents walked out the door in an orderly fashion. A few Dai Li agents stayed in front of her, ready to serve her.

"Each of you will guard and serve me. Should I request anything, it will be done. Understood?"

The Dai Li agents nodded, and then two went over to the doors, four stood beside her and five more stood around the room in case she requested anything. Two stood before her.

"Princess is there anything you need from us?" they asked.

Azula shot a quick glance at them. She wasn't happy with carrying the title of princess still, but she let it go.

"Yes. Go find the Avatar." She said as an evil smirk grew wide across her face.

"Of course princess." And the two Dai Li agents left. For some reason Azula knew they would return empty handed, but she did not care.

Azula sat back on her throne, and thought of the recent events. How easy it was for her. Why couldn't her father be so smart? Had he would have done this, the war would be won and over by now. Victory would have been obtained. Azula however was honored that she was the one who would do the greatest things in this war. She would be the most respected and feared person in the world. She liked the idea of it.

Here she was, in the city of Ba Sing Se. Her plans were going into play. It was almost like a strategy game. All she had to do was come up with the strategies, then sit back and watch as victory came closer and closer to her. Nothing could stop her. Her ascension, her rising to power was just beginning. By the end of it all, she would be the most powerful person in the world. She returned to Ba Sing Se, and in a matter of hours took complete control over it.


End file.
